Career change in mid-30's - Follow your heart or your head?
September 14, 2014 8:43 AM Subscribe
During a difficult economic climate, I think it's pretty realistic to suggest that if wanting to make a career change in your mid-thirties or even forties, the decision as to which career to pursue should be chiefly logically and strategically determined. Your passion or love of certain skills you have should not be the main deciding overall factor. We have to be realistic as to how competitive the job market is and which markets are willing to employ career changers in their 30s.
......Why? Well, most industries I believe are ageist and they prefer to chose younger applicants (20-27), as they are; free from professional baggage (they haven't developed a strong enough individualist work ethic, and can be molded by their older work colleagues/bosses); are not considered a threat to middle-management's jobs and they generally come without an attitude (meaning, older professionals are independent enough to stand their ground and question authority). This coupled with the economic forces increasing the competitive nature of the job market, makes it much tougher for career changers in their 30s and 40s.
I really am stuck between a rock and a hard place at present, and I feel the pressure at 33 to identify and select a career which will make me employable to a new industry. I would eternally appreciate your help and advice in taking the time to read about my situation.
To sum up:
- I left school at 16 and entered the workplace immediately (did well at school however wasn’t interested in further developing my academic record).
- I worked as an Agency temp for 3 years, working for over 25 different organisations and accrued fantastic skills in the process; I eventually landed a permanent central government job.
- Worked for the government for 9 years – never being promoted. I level transferred to different departments, and my skill-set was predominantly procurement/budget in capacity. I undertook a couple of job shadowing opportunities as an IT Network Floorwalker for a 4 week post-migration server project, and also served as an IT/PD Trainer, designing and creating training guides and training members of staff – both these opportunities I massively enjoyed.
- I believe part of the problem of being unable to progress was the ‘face doesn’t fit’ syndrome. It appeared my perceived attitude problem with certain levels of authority massively impinged my ability to apply for promotions.
- Despite working really hard, and undertaking various projects for senior management over the years, I was never rewarded; I remained as an Admin Officer for 9 years, frustrated and disillusioned.
- I decided after 9 years to do something about my lack of progression and changed to part-time hours, enrolled at college and undertook an Access course to go to University.
- I quit my government job when I started uni as to be quite frank, the place was soul destroying and it was a chapter of my life I wanted to leave behind.
- Graduated in 2013 with a BA(Hons) degree in Business from a respected UK university with a 2:2 classification (mitigating circumstances – I was dumped 2 weeks before my final exams after 3 years with my partner).
- 3 months after graduating, I landed a permanent job in real estate, as a Marketing Negotiator in the disposal and letting of commercial property. My initial aim was to seek employment within the Management Consultancy arena as one of my modules highlighted this was a career I would thoroughly thrive and enjoy. However, my 2:2 classification and the sheer competitive nature of the economy with my younger cohorts presented the realisation that my chances were between slim to impossible, so I just looked for any job.
- During my 10 months at the commercial agency, I thrived and absolutely loved my job. I worked late most nights, went in the odd weekend to improve the workload, went above and beyond my job role.
- The head of the agency and I soley ran the department, and I loved the level of autonomy that was provided to me in my manager’s absence. I would negotiate lease terms, analyse legal documents etc, and again, this job made me realise that I excel within areas of research and analysis. I could read literature for hours and annotate, edit and proof read till my brain exploded. I had a good solid, humorous, professional relationship with my manager - I respected him massively and I worked my rear off to prove how much I loved my job.
- Because of my newly discovered enthusiasm for commercial real estate, I looked into becoming a Surveyor. I worked with Surveyors on a daily basis and there was a 2 year part time Masters conversion course available at my local University. This would require day release every week and I would raise this as a request nearer the time (had only been in my job 5 months).
- It became clear after a few months that the office politics and culture of the organisation had caused real HR problems in the past. It was a small company comprising circa 150 employees across several branches. Through the grapevine I would hear how certain people got sacked without warning, or there were grievances taken with the owners of the company. They didn’t have a HR department, which says it all.
- 1 particular employee, female, very opinionated, bossy, manipulative, two faced etc – had a lot of control over company decisions, despite not being a company owner, or branch manager (she was business development director). She had a very close working relationship, scrupulously you could say, with the two owners of the company, and it looked as though they would allow her certain departmental/company privileges in making some big decisions.
- 10 months after being in my job, I was called in to the office shortly after lunch on a Friday by my manager, with the aforementioned woman present, and was told I no longer had a job. Apparently the department wasn’t making enough money and couldn’t justify paying my wage (£20k), and wanted to bring someone in with more business development experience on less money. I knew the decision was politically motivated – by this woman.
- My understanding is that this was a woman, despite her abundance of money, clothes and holidays she loved to talk about in the office to everyone, was jealous of younger, perhaps pretty (don’t wish to seem arrogant) and ambitious women.
- To say I sobbed in the office was an understatement. I could have got angry but I didn’t. I could tell she revelled in witnessing my vulnerability. I was asked to leave the office some 20 mins later after I had said my brief goodbyes.
- 5 days later, I was served my months notice from my landlady whom I lived with.
For the last few months since I was made redundant, I have remained unemployed, living with friends of the family. I had a plan when I worked in my last job, I felt I had real identity and a path, then the rug was pulled away from under my feet when I lost my job.
I suppose a positive thing out of all this happening is that it gave me lots of time to introspect and re-evaluate what I want out of my career.
I find it pressurizing and quite sad really that I see so many of my friends doing well, on good wages (from £25k to £40k), or either doing a Masters degree, and I will inevitably be back on the minimum wage pay scale. I don’t regret doing my degree and it has opened the door to do a Masters in the near future if I wish.
I have lived in houseshares pretty much most of my life when I left home at 16, aside from a 5 year period where I lived with an ex-partner. My credit history is dire because of how financially irresponsible I was when I was 19/20, my parents are divorced and are not financially secure themselves, so I don’t have that luxury of loaning money from parents, or living with them (fell out with my mum a few years ago, and my dad and I speak every 3-5 years.
During my 10 months at my agency job, I managed to save £1000 which I still have in a savings account. For some stupid reason, I have applied for MSc Building Surveying on a part time basis, paying £400 x 4 instalments in Y1, followed by £600 x 4 instalments in Y2. Why? I am genuinely scared I will miss the boat on forging a career which offers a technical skill with a recognised qualification (RICS). I now have to move out of where I am, and and relocate back home; I have to also look for a job.
What I am trying to say is that maybe this is a time, at 33, being a woman (yes it has to be taken into account depending what industry I wish to pursue), where I have to apply logic, rather than following a pathway determined by what my passion is and what skills I thrive utilising. This is not a time to be following my heart in this current economic climate - I did that with my undergrad degree. What I need is to be aiming towards a recognised profession – something I can be Iqualified in – with real vocational/technical skill, that will pay well (not interested in earning thousands and thousands of pounds – anything over £25k I’d be thrilled with given I haven’t earned over £20k all my life), and will provide greater security than most service sector non-vocational jobs.
Yes – a Chartered something. A chartered surveyor sounds perfect – they are in demand, that’s what I want. I want to be in demand professionally. However, I read ‘What colour is your parachute?’, which was brilliant to say the least, and having undertaken the tests etc, it turns out –
- I like working in a young (22-30), sociable, environment – not too busy – but with the opportunity to work on my own as this is when I am at my most productive. Young because I like the fact I can make friends from this environment and engage in social events outside of work. Most people over the age of 30 have commitments and tend not to participate in such social events.
- Research & analysis, proof reading, annotating, writing, reading, design and problem solving are the top skills I love to utilize. ( * during university, my fellow cohorts would ask me to proof read their essays – without risk of plagiarism – to improve their grammar, vocab, diction etc – and I loved doing it)
- Design- as in I have always been artistic – at school I achieved top grades in art, won competitions etc. During my career I have loved designing material from training guides to posters etc. Dabbling in design software such as Illustrator is what I would like to begin doing - even just as a hobby for the time being.
- Writing – ever since I can remember, I always seem to be writing something. Whether it was a diary as a child, a poem as a grown teenager, a newspaper when I was at junior school (which I still have believe it or not), or even very short stories. Writing a novel was always a hidden fantasy of mine since I was younger, generating different titles of books, starting them, but not having the time/will power/motivation to take it seriously. At University, I achieved first class grades working independently and as a group – 8,000 word essays weren’t a problem for me.
- Computing – from pursing a Networking qualification at college, to dabbling with Adobe illustrator, I’ve always had a connection with computers. Whenever there was a computing problem at my previous places of work, I would offer to resolve the problem first before calling the helpdesk (obviously I wasn’t an expert, but I was certainly a lot more computer savvy than over 95% of my colleagues).
I recently thought about starting my own business, producing infographic CV’s. I hear infographics/data visualisation is an emerging, growing field in analytics/marketing. I have re-engineered so many people’s CV’s over the years. I seem to have a natural aptitude in being able to successfully market a person using key buzzwords etc, whilst also improving the vocab/grammar/diction content, in addition to the layout in which I’d introduce a few non-imposing, professional graphics. Feedback was great – my assistance increased their marketability and subsequent invitation to interviews. However, I backed out from the idea as it's not realistic to earn a decent salary for the long term. I’ve seen some incredible infographic's on the internet, and that would be a great job really using research/analysis/data, and convert into illustrations. However when I was at university, I really wanted to pursue a Management Consultancy career, and deep down I still want this, but if this is going to be unrealistic, then a career involving aforementioned skills would be equally as amazing.
I feel under so much pressure in the idea of becoming qualified as a professional using a vocational skill-set, that my real passion, you could say, seems logically unrealistic and completely unfeasible because it will not make me qualified in anything. To be chartered, or qualified in a profession means I can also narrow down the job search to an ‘occupation’, rather than ‘admin/sales/customer service’.
I know that Quantity and Building Surveyors are in demand, and what is also very appealing is that Surveyors are on the occupation shortage list in Australia, so such an occupation means I would also be in demand internationally. So I have signed myself up for this Master’s degree to start next week, having no idea how I am going to fund the first year’s fees, but I feel if I don’t pursue this, time will pass by (including my age), and I will make it much harder for myself to enter an industry where age poses a significant barrier to entry. If I wanted to be a teacher or occupational therapist, age would not be a problem - these are not within ageist industries – but deep down I don’t’ want to be either of them. If truth be known, im having doubts about the MSc in Building Surveying because its not my ideal career, but it certainly offers me the opportunity to obtain a profession with Chartered status.....
So whilst ‘What color is your parachute?’ is invaluable in helping those such as myself, identify what skills they love to utilize, what environments they like to submerge within, in helping you pursue a career, I worry the book is failing to take into account that logic, rationality and realism is essential if wanting to pursue a new career, in the current climate, at a typical career-changing age (33-45). I would love to work in a design environment, being able to research and analyse literature, edit work, etc and achieve some recognized masters qualification, but the reality is, most industries are heavily leaned towards recruiting younger job seekers.
The colour of my parachute is uncertain – because it’s struggling between logic and emotion.
I would genuinely and gratefully appreciate any advice you have – your thoughts/opinions could well prove a significant turning point at the moment.
......Why? Well, most industries I believe are ageist and they prefer to chose younger applicants (20-27), as they are; free from professional baggage (they haven't developed a strong enough individualist work ethic, and can be molded by their older work colleagues/bosses); are not considered a threat to middle-management's jobs and they generally come without an attitude (meaning, older professionals are independent enough to stand their ground and question authority). This coupled with the economic forces increasing the competitive nature of the job market, makes it much tougher for career changers in their 30s and 40s.
I really am stuck between a rock and a hard place at present, and I feel the pressure at 33 to identify and select a career which will make me employable to a new industry. I would eternally appreciate your help and advice in taking the time to read about my situation.
To sum up:
- I left school at 16 and entered the workplace immediately (did well at school however wasn’t interested in further developing my academic record).
- I worked as an Agency temp for 3 years, working for over 25 different organisations and accrued fantastic skills in the process; I eventually landed a permanent central government job.
- Worked for the government for 9 years – never being promoted. I level transferred to different departments, and my skill-set was predominantly procurement/budget in capacity. I undertook a couple of job shadowing opportunities as an IT Network Floorwalker for a 4 week post-migration server project, and also served as an IT/PD Trainer, designing and creating training guides and training members of staff – both these opportunities I massively enjoyed.
- I believe part of the problem of being unable to progress was the ‘face doesn’t fit’ syndrome. It appeared my perceived attitude problem with certain levels of authority massively impinged my ability to apply for promotions.
- Despite working really hard, and undertaking various projects for senior management over the years, I was never rewarded; I remained as an Admin Officer for 9 years, frustrated and disillusioned.
- I decided after 9 years to do something about my lack of progression and changed to part-time hours, enrolled at college and undertook an Access course to go to University.
- I quit my government job when I started uni as to be quite frank, the place was soul destroying and it was a chapter of my life I wanted to leave behind.
- Graduated in 2013 with a BA(Hons) degree in Business from a respected UK university with a 2:2 classification (mitigating circumstances – I was dumped 2 weeks before my final exams after 3 years with my partner).
- 3 months after graduating, I landed a permanent job in real estate, as a Marketing Negotiator in the disposal and letting of commercial property. My initial aim was to seek employment within the Management Consultancy arena as one of my modules highlighted this was a career I would thoroughly thrive and enjoy. However, my 2:2 classification and the sheer competitive nature of the economy with my younger cohorts presented the realisation that my chances were between slim to impossible, so I just looked for any job.
- During my 10 months at the commercial agency, I thrived and absolutely loved my job. I worked late most nights, went in the odd weekend to improve the workload, went above and beyond my job role.
- The head of the agency and I soley ran the department, and I loved the level of autonomy that was provided to me in my manager’s absence. I would negotiate lease terms, analyse legal documents etc, and again, this job made me realise that I excel within areas of research and analysis. I could read literature for hours and annotate, edit and proof read till my brain exploded. I had a good solid, humorous, professional relationship with my manager - I respected him massively and I worked my rear off to prove how much I loved my job.
- Because of my newly discovered enthusiasm for commercial real estate, I looked into becoming a Surveyor. I worked with Surveyors on a daily basis and there was a 2 year part time Masters conversion course available at my local University. This would require day release every week and I would raise this as a request nearer the time (had only been in my job 5 months).
- It became clear after a few months that the office politics and culture of the organisation had caused real HR problems in the past. It was a small company comprising circa 150 employees across several branches. Through the grapevine I would hear how certain people got sacked without warning, or there were grievances taken with the owners of the company. They didn’t have a HR department, which says it all.
- 1 particular employee, female, very opinionated, bossy, manipulative, two faced etc – had a lot of control over company decisions, despite not being a company owner, or branch manager (she was business development director). She had a very close working relationship, scrupulously you could say, with the two owners of the company, and it looked as though they would allow her certain departmental/company privileges in making some big decisions.
- 10 months after being in my job, I was called in to the office shortly after lunch on a Friday by my manager, with the aforementioned woman present, and was told I no longer had a job. Apparently the department wasn’t making enough money and couldn’t justify paying my wage (£20k), and wanted to bring someone in with more business development experience on less money. I knew the decision was politically motivated – by this woman.
- My understanding is that this was a woman, despite her abundance of money, clothes and holidays she loved to talk about in the office to everyone, was jealous of younger, perhaps pretty (don’t wish to seem arrogant) and ambitious women.
- To say I sobbed in the office was an understatement. I could have got angry but I didn’t. I could tell she revelled in witnessing my vulnerability. I was asked to leave the office some 20 mins later after I had said my brief goodbyes.
- 5 days later, I was served my months notice from my landlady whom I lived with.
For the last few months since I was made redundant, I have remained unemployed, living with friends of the family. I had a plan when I worked in my last job, I felt I had real identity and a path, then the rug was pulled away from under my feet when I lost my job.
I suppose a positive thing out of all this happening is that it gave me lots of time to introspect and re-evaluate what I want out of my career.
I find it pressurizing and quite sad really that I see so many of my friends doing well, on good wages (from £25k to £40k), or either doing a Masters degree, and I will inevitably be back on the minimum wage pay scale. I don’t regret doing my degree and it has opened the door to do a Masters in the near future if I wish.
I have lived in houseshares pretty much most of my life when I left home at 16, aside from a 5 year period where I lived with an ex-partner. My credit history is dire because of how financially irresponsible I was when I was 19/20, my parents are divorced and are not financially secure themselves, so I don’t have that luxury of loaning money from parents, or living with them (fell out with my mum a few years ago, and my dad and I speak every 3-5 years.
During my 10 months at my agency job, I managed to save £1000 which I still have in a savings account. For some stupid reason, I have applied for MSc Building Surveying on a part time basis, paying £400 x 4 instalments in Y1, followed by £600 x 4 instalments in Y2. Why? I am genuinely scared I will miss the boat on forging a career which offers a technical skill with a recognised qualification (RICS). I now have to move out of where I am, and and relocate back home; I have to also look for a job.
What I am trying to say is that maybe this is a time, at 33, being a woman (yes it has to be taken into account depending what industry I wish to pursue), where I have to apply logic, rather than following a pathway determined by what my passion is and what skills I thrive utilising. This is not a time to be following my heart in this current economic climate - I did that with my undergrad degree. What I need is to be aiming towards a recognised profession – something I can be Iqualified in – with real vocational/technical skill, that will pay well (not interested in earning thousands and thousands of pounds – anything over £25k I’d be thrilled with given I haven’t earned over £20k all my life), and will provide greater security than most service sector non-vocational jobs.
Yes – a Chartered something. A chartered surveyor sounds perfect – they are in demand, that’s what I want. I want to be in demand professionally. However, I read ‘What colour is your parachute?’, which was brilliant to say the least, and having undertaken the tests etc, it turns out –
- I like working in a young (22-30), sociable, environment – not too busy – but with the opportunity to work on my own as this is when I am at my most productive. Young because I like the fact I can make friends from this environment and engage in social events outside of work. Most people over the age of 30 have commitments and tend not to participate in such social events.
- Research & analysis, proof reading, annotating, writing, reading, design and problem solving are the top skills I love to utilize. ( * during university, my fellow cohorts would ask me to proof read their essays – without risk of plagiarism – to improve their grammar, vocab, diction etc – and I loved doing it)
- Design- as in I have always been artistic – at school I achieved top grades in art, won competitions etc. During my career I have loved designing material from training guides to posters etc. Dabbling in design software such as Illustrator is what I would like to begin doing - even just as a hobby for the time being.
- Writing – ever since I can remember, I always seem to be writing something. Whether it was a diary as a child, a poem as a grown teenager, a newspaper when I was at junior school (which I still have believe it or not), or even very short stories. Writing a novel was always a hidden fantasy of mine since I was younger, generating different titles of books, starting them, but not having the time/will power/motivation to take it seriously. At University, I achieved first class grades working independently and as a group – 8,000 word essays weren’t a problem for me.
- Computing – from pursing a Networking qualification at college, to dabbling with Adobe illustrator, I’ve always had a connection with computers. Whenever there was a computing problem at my previous places of work, I would offer to resolve the problem first before calling the helpdesk (obviously I wasn’t an expert, but I was certainly a lot more computer savvy than over 95% of my colleagues).
I recently thought about starting my own business, producing infographic CV’s. I hear infographics/data visualisation is an emerging, growing field in analytics/marketing. I have re-engineered so many people’s CV’s over the years. I seem to have a natural aptitude in being able to successfully market a person using key buzzwords etc, whilst also improving the vocab/grammar/diction content, in addition to the layout in which I’d introduce a few non-imposing, professional graphics. Feedback was great – my assistance increased their marketability and subsequent invitation to interviews. However, I backed out from the idea as it's not realistic to earn a decent salary for the long term. I’ve seen some incredible infographic's on the internet, and that would be a great job really using research/analysis/data, and convert into illustrations. However when I was at university, I really wanted to pursue a Management Consultancy career, and deep down I still want this, but if this is going to be unrealistic, then a career involving aforementioned skills would be equally as amazing.
I feel under so much pressure in the idea of becoming qualified as a professional using a vocational skill-set, that my real passion, you could say, seems logically unrealistic and completely unfeasible because it will not make me qualified in anything. To be chartered, or qualified in a profession means I can also narrow down the job search to an ‘occupation’, rather than ‘admin/sales/customer service’.
I know that Quantity and Building Surveyors are in demand, and what is also very appealing is that Surveyors are on the occupation shortage list in Australia, so such an occupation means I would also be in demand internationally. So I have signed myself up for this Master’s degree to start next week, having no idea how I am going to fund the first year’s fees, but I feel if I don’t pursue this, time will pass by (including my age), and I will make it much harder for myself to enter an industry where age poses a significant barrier to entry. If I wanted to be a teacher or occupational therapist, age would not be a problem - these are not within ageist industries – but deep down I don’t’ want to be either of them. If truth be known, im having doubts about the MSc in Building Surveying because its not my ideal career, but it certainly offers me the opportunity to obtain a profession with Chartered status.....
So whilst ‘What color is your parachute?’ is invaluable in helping those such as myself, identify what skills they love to utilize, what environments they like to submerge within, in helping you pursue a career, I worry the book is failing to take into account that logic, rationality and realism is essential if wanting to pursue a new career, in the current climate, at a typical career-changing age (33-45). I would love to work in a design environment, being able to research and analyse literature, edit work, etc and achieve some recognized masters qualification, but the reality is, most industries are heavily leaned towards recruiting younger job seekers.
The colour of my parachute is uncertain – because it’s struggling between logic and emotion.
I would genuinely and gratefully appreciate any advice you have – your thoughts/opinions could well prove a significant turning point at the moment.
This post was deleted for the following reason: Heya, this is framed in a way that's too long and little too much "here's my thoughts about some stuff" vs. just a concrete question to really work for Ask. Redrafting it more focused and asking again would be fine; feel free to check with us at the contact form if you want more info. -- cortex
Response by poster: @bibirose - Thanks for your question. I haven't, only because most of them are fee-paying and I believe I can get more out of reading a book such as WCIYP than a career counselor. Then again I could be wrong...
I suppose I just need some reassurance from people who have made career changes in their 30s, having not pursued a Masters degree to land a profession which is in demand despite their age.
I appreciate it's a long question, and may cause some ambiguity!
posted by emma33UK at 9:26 AM on September 14, 2014
I suppose I just need some reassurance from people who have made career changes in their 30s, having not pursued a Masters degree to land a profession which is in demand despite their age.
I appreciate it's a long question, and may cause some ambiguity!
posted by emma33UK at 9:26 AM on September 14, 2014
Don't have loads to say except sorry to hear you had such a vile time at your last place and it sounds like you have a LOT of skills.
I am in my 30's and have spent a skint year setting up a business, it is effin hard and very exciting all at the same time. A rollercoaster.. if you are in certain allocated postal code area's there may be funding for free kickstart support - may be worth checking out it is very exciting/inspiring to meet others taking such a plunge if nothing else.
Nthing careers advisor. When I lived in London I found them incredibly helpful (also free) though that is going back a long time.
posted by tanktop at 9:42 AM on September 14, 2014
I am in my 30's and have spent a skint year setting up a business, it is effin hard and very exciting all at the same time. A rollercoaster.. if you are in certain allocated postal code area's there may be funding for free kickstart support - may be worth checking out it is very exciting/inspiring to meet others taking such a plunge if nothing else.
Nthing careers advisor. When I lived in London I found them incredibly helpful (also free) though that is going back a long time.
posted by tanktop at 9:42 AM on September 14, 2014
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posted by BibiRose at 8:53 AM on September 14, 2014 [3 favorites]